Intrepid Theatre Company

The 13 refugee students whose stories are depicted in Exiled Voices with their teachers after the performance on Sunday

Last Sunday, a sold out crowd filled the Horton Grand Theatre to witness the first ever production of “Exiled Voices: The Refugee Art Experience.” Thirteen refugee students from Crawford High School sat in the third row and watched their stories unfold on stage in song, dance, spoken word poetry, theatre and visual art. At the end of the night, these students, along with their artist partners, received a standing ovation. And this is just the beginning…

Dalina Canto and Vimel Sephus in La Liberte eclairant le Monde by Monique Gaffney, based on the stories of Hodman Hassan (Daren Scott)

Intrepid Theatre showcases

young refugees’ stories

By James Hebert

March 13, 2017

The words that rang out over a brooding blues-guitar riff at the Horton Grand Theatre on Sunday told a story of both struggle and resilience: “She ain’t seen peace for a while, but you can still see the sun in her smile.”

Those lyrics were from “Justine’s Peace,” a “spoken soul” piece by Kendrick Dial that was among 11 creative works unveiled at a free public showcase for Intrepid Theatre’s new program “Exiled Voices: The Refugee Art Experience.”

Struggle and resilience were common components in the real-life stories of the 13 students whose experiences were interpreted into art for the program, a partnership between Intrepid and SAY San Diego Crawford Community Connection.

The Crawford High students are all refugees; many of them had spent most of their lives in refugee camps before coming to San Diego, and some have been here only a matter of months.

We are still actively fundraising in order to increase the impact of this program as much as possible and lengthen the lifespan of the project. The more schools we can visit, the more cultural centers we can partner with, the more conversations we can begin, the greater the significance of this project will be.